bite the hand that feeds
by Broken Elsewhere
Summary: She was to have been perfection, heiress to the Hyuuga clan. And yet she was not, and Hiashi wonders where he failed.


**disclaimer: **I do not own Hinata, Hiashi, Hanabi, Neji, Naruto or the Hyuuga clan. All of it belongs to Kishimoto.  
><strong>notes: <strong>This will not foster love for Hiashi or the Hyuuga clan. Oops.  
><strong>note2: <strong>I set out to write what Hiashi thinks of his daughter. I pulled this out.

**title: **bite the hand that feeds  
><strong>summary: <strong>She was to have been perfection, heiress to the Hyuuga clan. And yet she was not, and Hiashi wonders where he failed.

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She was not quite a perfect daughter. Every time he looked at her, he wondered what had gone wrong. He'd raised her as was the Hyuuga way, as all Hyuuga should raise their children, and it had raised so many excellent children. She should have been the perfect heiress for their clan: Strong, proud, intelligent and an excellent leader.

She was none of these. If anything, she was weak, shy, cowardly, pacifistic and worst of all, unable to meet even the lowest standards of a leader. She defied every law of the Hyuuga until there were points that he was near certain that she could not be his child. It irked him further than none could see that she was a _problem_.

"Such a sweet child," they said, and patted her on the head.

He looked at her and knew something had gone wrong. For years, he pored over her upbringing. Upbringing – or lack thereof – as all parents knew, greatly influenced their child. The Uchiha, for example, instilled a high sense of pride and ambition in their children, in hopes that they would take up high and powerful roles. Of course, that, in turn, might have contributed to their demise.

The Hyuuga raised their children to be respectful of their elders, to be proud of the Hyuuga, to, most importantly, understand their place. After countless months of thinking, he came to realize that whatever had gone wrong had nothing to do with his upbringing – Hanabi was a perfect example of what Hinata should have been and they had been raised no differently. The Hyuuga upbringing was perfect, as expected.

Thus, his upbringing no longer a factor in the mishap that had caused her imperfection, he turned to her. And it was there that it became glaringly obvious that he should not have analyzed his parenting. The flaw was not in his parenting.

The flaw was _her. _

The problem was, no matter how perfect the design, once a creature developed free reign over its thinking, there would be consequences. Of course, he had to allow her free thought and action; a ninja needed such tools. The mistake was, of course, at the beginning, he had allowed free thinking in order to groom her into an heiress. An unfettered mind was needed for strong leadership.

_This _is where the problem originated.

He should not have allowed her so much free will over her thinking. It was a mistake to believe that she would not have begun to develop the flaws that seemed to plague most ninja. Her free will had made her _choose _to be meek, to be kind, to fall in love with someone who would do nothing but destroy the very foundation of their clan.

Independent thought breed insolence. She was unfit to be an heiress but at the same time, unfit to be a member of the Branch House. However, short of trapping her in an infinite genjutsu, he had to allow her to think for herself and make those ridiculous choices of hers.

And they were numerous. An infatuation with the Kyuubi vessel, attempting to befriend other family members, speaking to them as equals, treating Hanabi as a sister rather than an heiress, speaking out of turn…

It could not continue. As a future member of the Branch House, she needed to understand her place. While he had considered many options, he decided there was a much simpler way to demand obedience and behavior.

The next time she dared to look him in the eye, he gave her a sound beating. He had hit her until she had whimpered and sobbed and he shook his head in revulsion. She had lay prone on the floor for a few moments, before she attempted to stand up. He had pushed her down and cuffed her cheek, a warning that no further disobedience would be tolerated. Later, when she had the gall to ask Hanabi to help her, he had beat her until she had bowed before him and Hanabi and apologized for her misconduct. Only then had he allowed her to seek medical assistance.

It was a bit like training a dog, he found. When she did something wrong – left the compound to seek out the Kyuubi vessel, gave her opinion when it was not asked for, obeying other Hyuuga's beside himself – he punished her. He didn't harm her unnecessarily; she was still one of his own, after all. But the beatings were only effective for so long – eventually, after some time, she might fight back, as Neji had shown. He needed something with more finesse, to mold her mind and break her spirit into one befitting a perfect Branch House member.

So he stopped hiding his contempt for her.

The first time he told her she was weak and incapable, she'd stuttered in shock. He'd beat her.

"How can you serve the Hyuuga if you cannot remain silent after I have ordered you to be quiet?" She whimpered, a soft, almost sound. "I will not repeat myself. Silence!" Her body shuddered at his voice and the force of his hand. After a long moment, he nodded, pleased. She had not made a sound.

His tone was disgusted as he left. "Clean yourself up and return to your quarters. I do not wish to see you for the rest of the night."

He could not have been more pleased with the results, all things considered. She became so docile, so quiet, so obedient, that at times he found it hard to find flaws in her. There were rare occasions, as was expected, but it showed that even the most hopeless cases could be salvaged. Granted, she was_ not _perfect. There were times when she'd forget her training and speak back or raise that damning hand of friendship. However, he was diligent. He beat his dog into submission when it bared its teeth, scolded it when it made stupid mistakes and punished it for being noisy. He asserted his unquestioned authority.

He observed her, watched her and was impressed. There was no more longing for the Kyuubi vessel, no familiarity between her and other family members. She showed nothing but respect for Hanabi; spoke to her as an inferior, not an equal.

She performed her missions as a Hyuuga should, protected the Main House member as a Hyuuga should, she became exactly what Neji should have been.

A loyal, respectful and self-sacrificing member of the Branch House.

The final touch came with her forehead. He looked on with approval as she displayed the green manji on her forehead, the final act of complete and utter loyalty to Hanabi.

As time went by, he found it less necessary to raise his hand to her. With a look, a word, and she withdrew, acquiescing to his demands.

It was as close to perfection as she could get.

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**note3: **I kind of hypothesized that the Hyuuga place a lot of emphasis on respect, obedience and knowing one's place.  
><strong>note4: <strong>I think I disturb myself. Please review.


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